Of Ageing, Ideas & A Book
by you.just.got.STORMed
Summary: "It was exactly three days until Domitan of Masbolle turned twenty-nine, and he was beginning to feel it. Not physically feel it, mind you, but rather socially..." - ONESHOT.


It was exactly three days until Domitan of Masbolle turned twenty-nine, and he was beginning to feel it. Not _physically_ feel it, mind you, but rather _socially. _Most, if not all, of his friends over twenty-seven were now married and settled with scores of small, noisy children, and his own mother, the last time he had visited her at the palace, had told him quite bluntly that he was turning into an old bachelor.

An old bachelor? _Him_? Dom had never seen himself turning into something of the kind, not when the ladies of the court fawned over him and fell for his charming manner so easily. But it was true, he was getting older, and he hadn't courted anyone or even considered doing anything of the kind for years. A few small flirtations, perhaps, but he'd never really been able to see himself settling down with anyone _for good_. Well, maybe he could visualise settling down with someone- but it was a very particualar kind of woman that he was after. One of the Lady Knight variety, to be exact. And officially, there was only one of that type- so it could indeed be difficult to secure her for himself. But really, this solitary state _was_ beginning to worry him.

It was with this thought in mind that he strode purposefully around the walls of New Hope, searching for that one woman of the Lady Knight variety. Hard to find, Keladry of Mindelan and New Hope was nearly always occupied, whether it be doing paperwork, helping to dig latrines or fighting off bandits. He finally came across her, for once not working, sitting on a lone battlement of the fort, her head bent over a small novel in her lap.

Dom cleared his throat rather loudly, in order to catch her attention. "I've had an idea!"

"Mmmm?" Kel murmured, her tone lacking utterly in both interest and enthusiasm. Her gaze remained fixed on the book with intense concentration. Dom glared at it momentarily, unable to believe that he was forced to be jealous of a pile of paper.

He slid down to sit next to her against the wall and snatched the novel from under hands, shooting her an easy grin and flipping over the book in order to read its title. It was a great disappointment when he realised that the book was in fact written in a series of sharp squiggles and lines, presumably the Yamani language.

"Yuki gave it to me," Kel informed him absently, her dreamy hazel eyes now surveying the distant landscape with apparent fascination. "Could I have it back, please?"

Dom stared at her with mild annoyance and shoved the novel in his breeches pocket, considering himself lucky that it was a small book. She really wasn't helping his cause, not in the least- not when she wasn't showing even a remote bit of curiousity at his proclaimed _idea_. Perhaps she hadn't heard him.

"_I've had an idea_," Dom repeated, this time more forcefully.

"Oh?" asked Kel idly, her attention clearly elsewhere. "What about my book?" He chose to ignore her disinterested tone and instead went on.

"I think," he began, pausing for dramatic effect. His pride was more than a little wounded when she showed absolutely no visible reaction to this. "I think that we should get married."

Kel's eyes lifted to meet his and she raised an eyebrow minimally, but sat still, the rest of her face remaining impassive. "I suppose that you do realise that we're not courting?"

Dom nodded quite cheerfully, noting with some satisfaction that she appeared to have let go of her obsession with that damn book.

"And we never have been?" she prompted gently.

"I know," he said lightly.

She stared at him, momentarily at a loss for words. "Then...?"

Her slim, scarred hands were resting on her folded legs, and Dom seized the opportunity to grab her right hand with both of his.

"Kel," he began earnestly. "I'm turning twenty-nine in a few days."

She tilted her head in bafflement, her eyes flicking down to glance at their clasped hands. "Yes, I know. If we're clarifying ages and birthdays and all the rest of it, then I turned twenty-two a couple of months ago."

"_Exactly_," Dom told her sincerely, even though he was not entirely sure what he was exacting, exactly. "We're getting to be _old_."

"Speak for yourself!" protested Kel, but there was a dance in her eyes that made him want to lean forward and kiss her senseless until she laughed aloud.

"Fine, _I'm_ getting old," he amended good-naturedly. "But I've been thinking that I might like to settle down..."

She lifted her pale brows at him again, and it was evident that she was not going to make any assumptions about his words- he had to spell it out plainly. He forced himself to continue, clearing his throat as his voice grew croaky.

"And really, you're the only one who I can ever imagine doing such a thing with," he confessed quietly, suddenly aware that he really wasn't doing a good job of explaining himself. He couldn't, however, think of any way to make his feelings clearer.

Kel's forehead furrowed, just the slightest bit, and for a long while there was simply an agonising, painful silence. Dom found that he could no longer bear to look at her, feeling rejection burn throughout his body, and let her hand slide out of his gently. He stood.

"I'm sorry," Dom said, his tone more formal than he had ever used with Kel before, his throat constricting. "I shouldn't have assumed that you felt the same way."

He couldn't help but glance down at her one final time, knowing that he would never be able to look at her the same way ever again, and it was then that he stopped in his miserable tracks. Kel herself was staring up at him, for once letting her Mask go, her face full of puzzlement, confusion and a painful kind of longing.

"You never actually asked me a question," she pointed out softly.

A faint, warm flame of hope ignited in his chest and he hoped with all his being that he wasn't reading into these words what wasn't there. Because the tiny flame of hope was quickly growing into an all-consuming, powerful blaze.

He crouched beside her, reaching forward as though to take her hands, but then stopping himself in his own action, his tanned, strong hands halting mere centimetres from hers.

"Kel," he whispered, the words catching in his throat. "Marry me?"

It was not eloquent, nor particularly romantic- not even amazingly charming or smooth, as was his usual style. But that was all it took for Kel to close the gap between their hands, her fingers entwining with his as her eyes fixed on his face, searching it for he didn't know what.

"I suppose," she agreed, suddenly teasing, releasing one of his hands to hook her arm around his neck and pull him closer down to her own face. She leaned forward to gently press her lips against his own, and the sensation sent warm shivers down his back. She pulled away all too soon and her mouth quirked up at the corners, her wide, hazel eyes still fixed solely on his face. "Now can I have my book back?"


End file.
